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Topic Review (Newest First)

09-01-2010 09:24 AM

53fordguy

so ive ripped it apart, not sure what happened but something was in the cyl 4, and a nice hole in the block.still havent figured out how it happened wheather someine left it in the engine when i bought it.it appeared to be a helicoil/or a valve seal, but i noticed no marring or stress on the valvetrain, all valves opened and closed properly. what a waste of a 3970010!

also in using thew factory cam in this 350, too much cam for crossfire? i was about 6-7 dergrees advance, cleaned throttle body, fresh fuel used the 82 distributor, and no other mods. ive bought another 4 bolt 350 and im wondering if that may have been part of the problem. still no idea what started the leak to hydro the block,

pics to come, nothing but a mangled .020 piston and a big t shaped crack in the cyl wall, no major evidence of a lifted head gasket or a intake leak,

08-19-2010 06:00 PM

53fordguy

thanks! yeah i just wanted to see if she was sucking coolant still and if i made a hole in the piston, im going to tear into her this weekend and hope i can find another donor motor before my last year of school for my apprenticeship wooot!

08-19-2010 02:54 PM

cobalt327

Might be a nut or hard piece of whatever got into that hole and wiped out the plug if a rod or valve didn't let go. That wouldn't explain no oiling, though. I'm a bit surprised it will still start up and run. I wouldn't run it anymore, until you find out what's going on.

Maybe a piece of the piston above the compression ring broke off and took out the plug, etc.. That's been known to happen if there's a lot of detonation.

Good luck.

08-19-2010 02:43 PM

53fordguy

yeah 123 5 78 are all dry and ok, number 6 was wet and leaking coolant, 4 was too with the smashed plug, i dont know it its a rod cause i can still start it and it still has compression in those holes, i looks like somthing inside 4 let go and mangled the inside, i wont know till i pull the head but its definitly terminal as i also pulled a valve cover and nothing is coming up the pushrods( after filling with new oil). i could see around the piston edges and they looked ok,, im not thinking valve as all the rockers move in an ok manner, i would assume if i dropped a valve it would have bent and held the valve or the the spring would be cocked.

08-19-2010 02:08 PM

cobalt327

I'm not following what you mean: "1-7 OK, 2 and 8 OK(dry)." Are you saying those 4 holes are dry and the others are wet?

The block could have frozen and cracked. They sometimes won't leak again until the block is heated up, then the cracks open up and water goes everywhere.

The smashed plug indicated mechanical mayhem in that cylinder. Most likely the rod has failed and the piston then was able to contact the plug. Or it dropped a valve and that beat up the plug. Either way, it's terminal, I doubt you had such bad detonation that the plug would look like that- although detonation CAN crack the porcelain, and overheating/detonation can ruin the ground strap.

If there was a rod that let go, it can cause the cylinder to split. Overheating can warp the decks and cause the head gasket(s) to lose seal. Either case will let water into the cylinder.

But this is all guessing, not knowing which holes are wet, etc.. But it does not sound good- that's for sure!

08-19-2010 12:11 PM

53fordguy

So i got the install done and everything was good, but then uh oh! im not sure as of yet what happened but i think my block grenaded! i poured coolant in and it pours out the oil pan and cyl 4/6! cyl 6 was full of coolant, and something mangled cyl 4 my spark plug was smashed into little pieces and crushed in the bore. i used a boroscope to check but it didn't give me and conclusive idea. any ideas?

After install it ran and idled fine, warmed up and went for a drive, ran thru rpm range 700-4500 seemed ok lots of power!, and i made it about a block then i backed up and it stalled, started it up and coolant was blowing out my tail pipes, so i went home and filled up and tried to fire up and it hydro locked, drained crank case filled 3 ice cream pails full of coolant before i saw oil. drained all cylinders, 1-7 OK, 2 and 8 OK(dry). anyone seen this happen?

The guy i got this engine from said the heads have been port/polished, its a 3970010 block .030 over. will post pics later.

08-12-2010 05:59 PM

53fordguy

Quote:

Originally Posted by cobalt327

This what you mean?

got any more thats pretty well what i need just need to see the top and maybe a measurement? but thats a pretty good idea!

08-12-2010 04:32 PM

cobalt327

This what you mean?

08-12-2010 12:20 PM

53fordguy

ok thanks guys, does anyone have any pictures or specs on where to hog out the center bolt holes tnx. 53

08-11-2010 04:18 PM

cobalt327

Quote:

Originally Posted by 53fordguy

just to be sure i can use regualr gaskets on this? i think i have found a good 87 engine with 40k on it, i dont want any trouble haha i know about the intake bolts bat as far as sealability, i definitly do not want vaccum leaks haha

I would use a good FelPro Print-o-Seal (or similar type) gasket made for that application. Not "racing" gaskets.

08-11-2010 03:35 PM

bigdog7373

Quote:

Originally Posted by 53fordguy

i definitly do not want vaccum leaks haha

vacuum leaks are no laughing matter.

08-11-2010 01:39 PM

53fordguy

just to be sure i can use regualr gaskets on this? i think i have found a good 87 engine with 40k on it, i dont want any trouble haha i know about the intake bolts bat as far as sealability, i definitly do not want vaccum leaks haha

07-17-2010 12:04 PM

Silverback

The thing is that in many cases those are basically swapping a crossfire top onto a manifold that has MUCH larger runners... unless you change everything at once you're going to end up with a mismatched combination that won't run very well.

Secondly, that link does a lot of things that either don't help at all or hurt, like there is no point in opening up the port openings like that, it's kind of hard to see in the pics, but the intake runners run flat in the manifold like the head ports, and the big flat area where it bolts to the head is there just to seal the ports. If you look at that last pic posted, there isn't much metal behind it, and if you open it up to a typical head gasket opening you can only do it at a the flange, the rest of the port stays that small, and even if that wasn't the case, the air flow would have to take a hard, downward turn to use the extra cross section. In the end you're just ruining something that was working and in the process getting something that doesn't work in any way.

He also cut back 4 of the 8 runners... shorter runners might help up top if you increased cross section significantly, but they didn't, and left a square edge that will hurt airflow and fuel distribution, while leaving the outer runners pretty much stock also, further unbalancing things.

There just isn't room in the stock manifold to make it a high rpm breather, cutting out the EGR works, radiusing the port entries works, don't touch the exits (at least don't change their shape), clean off all the casting flash, cutting out the sides of the swirl plates and plenum spacers work also (gives more room for the air to change directions).

Anyone know anything about a x-fire intake top made by Dynamic Crossfire Solutions", called the Renegade?
There was also a "X-Ram", made for an open plenum intake, w/the CFI top added. I don't know what happened w/it, either.

Then there's a modded Offy intake:

Somewhere there's a custom lid for the Edelbrock STR-10 and the Edelbrock SY1 like the one above.

From what I can tell, the intake is the hurdle to making good power. Well, besides a better fuel pump. And an ECM. And if I were doing a chip/ECM I'd want a cam to go w/it. And the cam really needs better heads...

Just like ANY engine/induction system, you can get on board and ride as far as your wallet will take you.

From HERE (also info and photos on modding the CFI intake):STOCK CFI PORTS

07-16-2010 12:44 PM

53fordguy

cross fire ok in my books.

i dunno what everyones hate is about haha, i just got this car and i cannot believe how much jam it has, i was very suprised ive had a few tbi chevys and they allways felt sluggish, i stick my foot down and the car just keeps haulin butt! combo'ed with the th350 its allways making revvs. i was thinking just upgrading injectors and maybe a small chip for now, cause its my daily for now,while i build the merc hahah. the posi is very nice to btw

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